Winging It on a Wind Powered Ferry

For millennia, the wind has moved people from Point A to Point B, and on San Francisco Bay, we have an abundance of it for much of the year. So it seems odd that, in an area so forward-thinking and eco-friendly, we don’t have any wind-powered public transportation. Wind+Wing Technologies hopes to change that.

Started by the same group of sailors that owns and operates Adventure Cat Sailing Charters, Wind+Wing has partnered with Orange County’s Morrelli & Melvin Design Engineering and Harbor Wing Technologies out of Honolulu and Seattle to design a catamaran ferry that uses solid wing technology.

"Morrelli & Melvin’s engineering study makes a strong argument that adding a wing sail could cause a 42% annual fuel reduction over current usage," says Jay Gardner, co-owner of Wind+Wing. "A bus gets about 300 passenger miles per gallon (PMG), BART gets 450, but our design would get 150." And according to Lee Helm’s calculations in the December issue of Latitude, WETA’s ferry Gemini gets a dismal 9.1 PMG at its average 30% capacity.

While the concept is still in development, Gardner says they’ve received nothing but positive feedback from ferry operators. "After some initial skepticism, they’ve been very supportive," he said. "We took them out on Adventure Cat and ran their routes so they could see it was possible. They’re getting excited about it."

Gardner says production of the test ferry is slated to begin next year. They hope that after testing — which will likely take most of ’12 — ferry districts and their captains will feel comfortable ordering the boat. If so, we may see the first sailing ferry plying the waters of the Bay by ’14. Find out more about the project at www.windwingtech.com.